Mubarak Decries Israeli Policies

Published 8:00 pm, Wednesday, April 3, 2002

Associated Press Writer

Israel's military campaign will not produce security for its people, but will yield only the hatred of 300 million Arabs, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said Thursday.

In an address to the nation on Egyptian television, Mubarak said he had been urging the United States to intervene in the Israeli-Palestinian fighting, saying Washington bears a "special responsibility" owing to its position as co-sponsor of the peace process.

"That is why I sent two messages … urging the American administration to exert its maximum effort and use all its diplomatic power" to ensure an Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian territories, Mubarak said.

The 15-minute speech was Mubarak's first public address since Israeli troops invaded the headquarters of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in Ramallah on March 29 and began a major offensive against Palestinian militants in several other West Bank towns and cities after a series of deadly terror attacks on Israelis.

The United States should intercede "to lift the inhumane siege on the Palestinian leader and his comrades … and to guarantee the return of the two sides to the negotiating table," Mubarak said.

Less than an hour after Mubarak's speech, President Bush announced in Washington that he was sending Secretary of State Colin Powell to the Middle East in a new push for peace.

"The Israeli government is seriously mistaken if it thinks that its current policies will lead to the security it promised its electorate," Mubarak said. "This policy will lead to more harm and serious damage to the Israeli people."

"The current policy of the Israeli government will only contribute to deepening the sentiment of hatred of some 300 million Arabs toward the state of Israel and those who support its current policies," the Egyptian leader said.

Mubarak accused the Israeli government of ignoring international resolutions and his repeated warnings about the danger of invading the Palestinian territories and of "attacking the sanctuaries, especially Jerusalem."

"This makes it incumbent on the international community as a whole to take a decisive position that will return the Israeli government to sanity," Mubarak said.

Israel has taken advantage of the international campaign against terrorism to stamp "the legitimate Palestinian resistance to the (Israeli) occupation with the brand" of terrorism."

The Palestinian people, Mubarak said, will never accept less than the return of all of the territory that Israel occupied in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, and an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.

Criticizing Israel's attempt to oust Arafat, Mubarak said the demand would be the same "regardless of who is in power" in the Palestinian Authority.

The president spoke of his government's support for the Palestinians _ a theme that seemed intended for the thousands of Egyptians who have been demonstrating against Israel every day this week.

Egypt will always be the first country to extend a hand to the Palestinian people and their struggle, Mubarak said. He recalled that on Wednesday the government had announced the suspension of all contacts with the Israeli government, save those that "serve the Palestinian cause."

"I am sure that this decision will send a clear message," Mubarak said.